A Winnipeg nurse says medical supplies that could save lives are ending up in landfills.

Phyllis Reader has started an organization, International Hope, that collects medical equipment considered obsolete in Canada and takes it to the world's poorest countries, where they are a great help.

She wants help in preventing more of these items from being thrown out: "This warehouse and our medical supplies to date are just the tip of the iceberg. We do not have the resources to cope and handle the massive amounts of supplies out there across the country."

However, the Canadian International Development Agency, the federal agency responsible for humanitarian aid, is throwing cold water on Reader's plans, saying it's too expensive to collect the equipment and ship it overseas.

"The concern that we have is that it may end up being a higher cost in the long run to try to transfer this to developing countries," says CIDA spokesman Norman MacDonnell.

However, Reader says it's better to help people with this equipment than to throw it away.

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